We're excited to announce a brand new partnership that's set to transform how decentralized communities fund and scale their ecosystems. Karma, the onchain accountability and capital allocation platform, has launched its new feature-rich direct funding solution with Optimism Grants as the inaugural partner for Season 8.

Optimism stands as one of the most prominent Layer 2 solutions in the Ethereum ecosystem, with the Optimism Superchain securing an impressive half of all L2 Total Value Locked (TVL). This massive scale brings both opportunity and responsibility – managing resources across 19 layer 2 networks including Base and Unichain through seven previous funding seasons.

For Season 8, which focuses on increasing interoperability adoption within the Optimism ecosystem, the Grants Council is distributing 6.29 million OP tokens. To handle this significant undertaking efficiently, they've chosen Karma's comprehensive end-to-end funding platform to streamline the entire process from application to impact measurement.

Traditional community funding programs face numerous challenges that can severely impact their effectiveness:

The Pain Points:

• Reviewer burnout from processing hundreds of applications manually

• Builders experiencing weeks-long waits for feedback

• Exceptional projects falling through administrative cracks

• Lack of clear metrics to measure program success

These inefficiencies cost valuable time and resources that decentralized teams simply can't afford to waste.

Karma's new platform addresses these challenges head-on with an integrated solution that covers the entire funding lifecycle:

For Communities:

• Accept applications through AI-powered forms that streamline the intake process

• Provide instant AI evaluation and feedback to builders

• Distribute funds seamlessly with built-in payment infrastructure

• Monitor progress and measure real impact with comprehensive analytics

• Continuously improve funding programs based on data-driven insights

For Builders:

• Receive instant feedback to improve applications

• Experience faster review cycles and clearer communication

• Access a streamlined application process designed for efficiency

For Reviewers:

• Evaluate applications 10x more efficiently with AI assistance

• Focus on strategic decision-making rather than administrative tasks

• Access comprehensive data to make informed funding decisions

The partnership enables Optimism Grants to support builders and decentralized applications like Moonwell and Sake Finance that demonstrate measurable onchain impact through key metrics including transaction volume and TVL growth. With Season 8's focus on interoperability, these metrics become even more crucial for tracking cross-chain adoption and ecosystem health.

Karma's platform provides the infrastructure to track these metrics effectively, creating a clear data trail that demonstrates return on investment and guides future funding decisions.

While Optimism Grants serves as the flagship launch partner, Karma's platform isn't limited to billion-dollar DAOs. Any community can now run professional-grade funding programs to grow their ecosystem, complete with:

• Branded community experiences

• Comprehensive application management

• Automated evaluation and feedback systems

• Integrated fund distribution

• Real-time impact tracking and analytics

This partnership represents a significant step forward in how decentralized communities can efficiently allocate capital while maintaining accountability and measuring success. By combining Optimism's proven track record in ecosystem development with Karma's innovative funding technology, Season 8 sets a new standard for what's possible in decentralized grant programs.

Applications for Optimism Grants Season 8 are now open at opgrants.io until November 12th 2025.

As the decentralized ecosystem continues to mature, partnerships like this demonstrate how technology can solve real operational challenges while enabling communities to focus on what matters most: supporting the builders and projects that drive innovation forward.

Ready to transform how your community funds projects? Karma is opening access to more partners soon. Contact our team to learn how Karma can streamline your program management and enhance community engagement.